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The Hardest Sermons You’ll Ever Have To Preach
Reviewed by Hans Kristensen
Little Black Books: Science and God
Reviewed by Andrew Laird
Making the Most of the Cross
Reviewed by Lesley Hicks
Higher Ground
Reviewed by Andrew Laird

Prostitution Bill hits WA parliament (plus the story of a WA ministry to prostitutes)

9:57pm Wednesday, 2nd November 2011

The Australian Christian Lobby is urging West Australian politicians not to pass the Prostitution Bill 2011, which was introduced in state parliament on Nov 2.
ACL spokeswoman Michelle Pearse said that keeping prostitution out of the suburbs but allowing it to be legal in “tolerated zones” won’t stop the expansion of the illegal industry, as has been seen in other parts of Australia which legalised prostitution.
“The Queensland Government legalised brothel prostitution in 1999 and research from the University of Queensland estimates that 90 per cent of prostitution in Queensland is still illegal, even after the government set up the Prostitution Licensing Authority to regulate the industry,” Ms Pearse said.
“It will be impossible to confine prostitution to certain zones when there is an increasing number of men purchasing sex. As long as there is a legal industry, men will continue to assume the right to exploit women by purchasing them for sex,” Ms Pearse said.
The ACL said a government who legitimises prostitution through legalisation is legitimising the exploitation and abuse of women.
“A report by the US Bureau of Public Affairs cited a study into the trauma prostituted women face and revealed that 60-75 per cent of women in prostitution were raped, 70-95 per cent were physically assaulted and 68 per cent had post traumatic stress disorder in the same range as ‘treatment seeking combat veterans’[ii]. Why would the WA Government sanction an industry where this occurs?” Ms Pearse said.
Instead of legalising the industry, the ACL is calling on the government to shut down all brothels and implement a law similar to Sweden’s, which penalises the buyer rather than the women who are exploited in the industry.
This model is now being adopted by several European countries and South Korea.

ALSO from WA a story of a positive ministry to prostitutes: Ex-madam dreams of a farm

Joshua Maule

A former prostitute who has run a shelter for recovering sex workers in Western Australia for more than a decade, is looking to relocate to a farmhouse. Linda Watson and the Perth Catholic Archdiocese recently sold Linda’s House of Hope, a Christian outreach which has operated since 1999. As Watson searches for a new location, she continues to run an adjoining assessment centre in Perth.
“My dream is a farm,” says Watson. “The girls could stay as long as they needed to.”
Featured in Philip Yancey’s most recent book What Good Is God?, Linda’s House of Hope has had varied responses. Watson says some have had the attitude of “serves them right, they put themselves there so they deserve to be there”.
But she knows that is not the case. Having been both a prostitute and a madam for 20 years, she knows first hand how hard it is to break out of prostitution. “These people are being lured to the slaughterhouse.”
It was out of compassion for other sex workers that Watson found her calling.
Many prostitutes, the majority of them addicted to drugs, have been through the doors of Linda’s House of Hope in the last 13 years. “98% of the girls end up with an addiction; not just to prostitution but alcohol, drugs, dope, ecstasy. You name it, they’ve got it,” Watson says.
Some have stayed only a short time, others for months - the longest was there two and a half years. “They had to show that they were keeping their goals.” These included not working in the sex industry, and making steps towards a restored life. “I love to see those victories,” she says.
But the losses weigh heavily. A number of the women have returned to work in brothels. Tragically in 2002, six women died over six months. “Yeah,” she sighs, “it’s very sad.”
Among those who make progress, Watson points to the importance of “spiritual awakening”. “Many of them come from religious backgrounds already. But without a spiritual change, there is very little hope.”
As the residents look at the life of Watson and others, they see deliverance is possible. Volunteers distribute Bibles to those who want them and read stories of Jesus’ life.
Watson says, “Nothing is impossible for God,” which seems to be the driving theology of her mission. God can sort it out. He is powerful. She adds, “And the most important thing is: they need to learn to love themselves and forgive themselves.”
As well as the personal ministry, Watson took up a political battle against prostitution. It is part of the reason Women’s Weekly magazine named Watson “Australia’s Most Inspiring Woman” in 2002.
In Western Australia, a bill to legalise prostitution will go to Parliament in the coming months. Watson is campaigning for brothels to remain prohibited.
A spokeswoman for the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL), Michelle Pearse, stands by Watson. “When you legalise or decriminalise prostitution, it sends the message to men that it’s OK to purchase women for sex.”
The ACL says when prostitution was legalised in Melbourne, the number of illegal brothels tripled. In New South Wales, where prostitution is decriminalised, the same number of brothels exist as in Amsterdam, according to the ACL. And they say 90 percent of brothels in Queensland are run illegally. “It’s a harmful exploitative business,” says Pearse.
A recent investigation by Four Corners and The Age newspaper in Melbourne has exposed a ring of both legal and illegal brothels with links to sex trafficking and crime. If nothing else, the findings raise questions about the ability of both state and local government to control a legalised sex industry.
Linda Watson says criminal activity is rife in the red light scene. And she is fighting hard to stop political acceptance of prostitution. “They keep telling us it’s a safe workplace. They don’t care. But they’re leading the children to slaughter.”

Phone Linda Watson on 08 9358 2544
To donate, make cheques out to: Linda’s House of Hope. PO Box 5640, St Georges Terrace, Perth, 6831